A rare Carlton trophy, believed to have been won by Geelong’s only five-time premiership player William “Trusty” Hall, has found its way back to the football club some 140 years after it was first presented.

The sterling silver chalice, onto which bouquets of flowers and the figure of a capped footballer are engraved, carries the inscription “Carlton Football Club’s Challenge Cup for dropkick won by W. Hall 1876, 68 yds”.

The chalice was graciously returned by Case Kuyken, who acquired the object in November 2009 from Surfer’s Paradise resident Diedre Fordham. Fordham, who inherited the chalice from a Hall descendant she befriended, parted with the goblet to pay for her own funeral.

Kuyken has granted the club temporary loan of the chalice until he can find a new buyer, providing he or she has an interest in the Old Dark Navy Blues.

“I buy a few of these things – old footballs, cricket bats and the like – and one day I saw a Herald Sun article written by Daryl Timms that Diedre wanted to sell the cup,” Kuyken said.

“I called her that night and said ‘I’d like to buy it. I’ll fly in tomorrow to pick it up’. When I got there late in the afternoon she said ‘You’re bloody lucky you turned up – I had two others waiting, one of them a Carlton supporter, and if you hadn’t have flown in it would have gone.”

Kuyken appreciated the value of the chalice, suggesting: “I don’t think there’s an older trophy in Victoria”.

He indicated that he had to part with the object “sooner or later”, and hopefully a Carlton Football Club member would see fit to purchase the chalice.

As he said: “Something like this should belong to somebody who’s a Carlton freak, because really it should belong to the club”.

The chalice’s provenance can be sourced to April 8 of the 1876 year, when Carlton conducted its 4^th Annual Sports Day at the old University ground on Madeline Street (now Swanston Street), which it then occupied in a tenancy arrangement.

Handsome cabs ferried spectators along Madeline Street to the ground at five-minute intervals and Leydin’s Carlton Private Band provided the musical entertainment.

More than 800 people were witness to a series of footraces – the 100, 150 and 300-yard flat races, as well as the 440-yard handicap flat race for members of Carlton’s first 20 (Dr. Duncan’s Cup won by Bill “The Little Wonder” Newing off 35 yards) and an open mile handicap to all comers.

The drop kick competition was open to Challenge Cup club representatives, including Carlton, which was represented by its vice-captain George McGill, Harry Nudd and one of the Donovan brothers.

As inscribed on the chalice, the drop kick competition was won by W. Hall (Geelong) with a distance of 68 yards. Second was James Rickards (Carlton Imperial) with a kick of 60 yards 1ft 6ins and third, J. Macdonald (University) who roosted the leather conveyance 59 yards 2 ft.

The late William Hall - Geelong's only five-time premiership player.

Born in 1855 and schooled at Geelong Grammar, Hall represented Geelong as a player from 1872-84 and 1887, and was a member of its VFA Grand Final triumphs of 1878-’80 and 1882-’83.

Considered a winger/forward gifted with outstanding pace and a magnificent kick whose place and drops often exceeded 65 metres, Hall captained Geelong in 15 matches from 1877-’78 and 1881, and later served the football club as a committeeman and secretary.

By the time he had taken out the Carlton trophy, Hall had already topped Geelong’s goalkicking in 1873 (the same year Tom Wills captained the club), ’74 and ’75.

In February this year, Hall was one of eight former greats of the ‘forgotten 1800s’ (together with Wills and Charles Brownlow) to be inducted into the Geelong Football Club’s Hall of Fame. 

The 1876 Challenge Cup will shortly go on display in the showcase by the reception area at Ikon Park. Serious bidders can contact Case Kuyken for further information on 0412 247852.